Internet television apparatus

ABSTRACT

An internet television apparatus which has an internet connecting capability, comprising a means for storing an HTML document received from a Web server, a means for interpreting the HTML document and develops an image on an image memory, a display device on which the developed image is displayed, a means for recognizing anchor tags existing in the HTML document to detect mutual positional relationship among hot spots, corresponding to the recognized anchor tags, on the browser screen so as to generate a transfer list which defines the positional-relationship, and a control means for determining to which hot spot a focus is to be transferred next from a currently focussed hot spot by referring to the transfer list on the basis of the currently focussed hot spot and a user&#39;s operation to the operation key or keys for indicating at least four directions, and for transferring the focus onto the determined hot spot.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an internet television apparatus(although, not limited to this) wherein an external internet unit or aninternal internet circuit is added to a television apparatus, and moreparticularly to an apparatus which allows a user to specify a selectableitem or a so-called hot spot on a home page of the Internet, with acursor motion key of a remote controller.

BACKGROUND ART

Conventionally, in order to access the Internet, it has ordinarily beennecessary for a user to use a personal computer and have at leastminimum knowledge about computers. Especially, it has been required touse a keyboard for operation, which has been difficult for users who arenot familiar with the keyboard. Therefore, internet participants tendedto be limited to specialists, and the situation is far from that a lotof people can widely participate in the Internet.

A simple hardware configuration to access the Internet is to use a videogame machine. In this case, the operation is performed by a controllerattached to the game machine. This controller permits a remote controlof the machine but a cable wire has to be used due to the originalpurpose of the game machine. Since the controller has to be operated byboth hands, the operation is troublesome, inconvenient in dragging thecable, and not easy.

Therefore, it is desirable to be able to access the Internet through theuse of a television apparatus which widely spreads over every family andto perform an operation by using a remote controller attached to thetelevision apparatus.

A personal computer offers an operation to click on a hot spot by usinga pointing device like a mouse, while a wireless remote controller of atelevision apparatus does not permit such an operation. Therefore, anoperation equivalent to the clicking operation on the hot spot isachieved by displaying a cursor on a Web browser screen of the Internetdisplayed on the television, moving the cursor in a desired direction byan arrow key of the remote controller to superimpose the cursor on atarget hot spot, and further, pressing a predetermined button in thisstate. However, it is quite troublesome and also time-consuming toaccurately control the cursor by the key operation, and hence, this isnot practical.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a methodand a device which allows a user to easily specify a hot spot on abrowser screen by using a remote controller of a television apparatus orthe like.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The present invention provides an internet television apparatus havingan internet connecting capability, comprising: means for connecting to aWeb server of the Internet; means for storing an HTML document receivedfrom the Web server; means for interpreting the HTML document anddeveloping an image on an image memory; a display device for displayingthe developed image thereon; a wireless remote controller having anoperation key or keys for indicating at least four directions forremotely controlling the internet television apparatus; means forrecognizing anchor tags existing in the HTML document to detect mutualpositional relationship among hot spots, corresponding to the recognizedanchor tags, on the browser screen so as to generate a transfer listwhich defines the positional relationship; and a control means fordetermining to which hot spot a focus is to be transferred next from acurrently focussed hot spot by referring to the transfer list on thebasis of the currently focussed hot spot and a user's operation to theoperation key or keys for indicating at least four directions, and fortransferring the focus to the determined hot spot.

The present invention provides, from another point of view, an externaldevice to be connected to the television apparatus for providing thesame with an internet connecting capability, comprising: means forconnecting to a Web server of the Internet; means for storing an HTMLdocument received from the Web server; means for interpreting the HTMLdocument and developing an image on an image memory; means fortransmitting the developed image to the television apparatus; a wirelessremote controller which has an operation key or keys for indicating atleast four directions for remotely controlling the external device;means for recognizing anchor tags existing in the HTML document todetect mutual positional relationship among hot spots, corresponding tothe recognized anchor tags, on the browser screen so as to generate atransfer list which defines the positional relationship; and a controlmeans for determining to which hot spot a focus is to be transferrednext from a currently focussed hot spot by referring to the transferlist on the basis of the currently focussed hot spot and a user'soperation to the operation key or keys for indicating at least fourdirections, and for transferring the focus to the determined hot spot.

The internet television apparatus or the external device may be providedwith means for receiving the HTML documents via a telephone line.Alternatively, it may be provided with means for receiving the HTMLdocuments from a data broadcasting.

The focusing can be performed by displaying a cursor placed on a hotspot to be focussed on or displaying with an emphasis the hot spot to befocussed on.

Preferably, the remote controller for the external device is used incommon with the television apparatus. The present invention, from yetanother point of view, provides a method of transferring, by keyoperation, a focus among a plurality of hot spots on a browser screendisplaying an HTML document on a device including a display fordisplaying the HTML document, comprising the steps of: receiving an HTMLdocument; recognizing anchor tags existing in the HTML documentreceived; detecting the mutual positional relationship among hot spots,corresponding to the recognized anchor tags, on a browser screen so asto generate a transfer list which defines the positional relationship;determining to which hot spot a focus is to be transferred next from acurrently focussed hot spot by referring to the transfer list on thebasis of the currently focussed hot spot and a user's operation to theoperation key or keys for indicating at least four directions, and fortransferring the focus to the determined hot spot.

The present invention also includes in its scope a storage medium inwhich a computer program for achieving such a method is stored. Suchstorage media include a semiconductor ROM, a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, ahard disk, etc.

According to the present invention, it is possible to let the focus on ahot spot directly jump among hot spots according to a transfer patternbased on an operation of the remote controller, so that any one of thehot spots on a home page may be selected to receive and display desiredinformation. Therefore, anybody who can operate a television apparatuscan easily connect to the Internet and browse home pages.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a transfer pattern of the internettelevision apparatus in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an external view of an example of the remote controller forthe internet television apparatus in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 shows an example of an external view of the internet televisionapparatus in a first embodiment in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an initial menu screen of theinternet television apparatus in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of principal elementsof the internet television apparatus (an external device) in the firstembodiment in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a cursor transfer patterncorresponding to a home page in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of positions of selectablecandidate characters which represent hot spots on a home page;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of principal elementsof the internet television apparatus in a second embodiment inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram of an example of theinternet television apparatus in the second embodiment in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 10 shows an example of a video circuit of the internet televisionapparatus in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 11 shows another example of the video circuit of the internettelevision apparatus in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 12 shows yet another example of a video circuit of the internettelevision apparatus in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an HTML document configuration (a) and anexample of its display (b);

FIG. 14 shows an exemplary configuration of a cursor transfer list(table) in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a flow chart showing an exemplary processing procedure forgenerating the cursor transfer list as shown in FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a flow chart showing an example of an interruption processingexecuted based on the cursor transfer list of FIG. 14 upon a user'scursor operation; and

FIG. 17 is a block diagram showing a configuration of principal elementsof a modified embodiment in accordance with the present invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Preferred embodiments in accordance with the present invention will nowbe explained according to the drawings.

Referring first to FIGS. 3 and 5, a set-top-box type or external typeinternet television apparatus will be explained, which is a firstembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, an external type internet unit 1 is mounted on anordinary television apparatus 5, and the internet unit 1 is providedwith a modular jack 7 for receiving a telephone line 2. A modular plug 6at an end of the telephone line 2 is connectable with the jack 7. Theinternet unit 1 and the television apparatus 5 are connected to eachother by video and audio lines which will be described below. In thisembodiment, the internet television apparatus is comprised of thetelevision apparatus 5 and the internet unit 1.

An infrared receiving part 32 is provided on the front face of theinternet unit 1 for receiving a signal projected from a light emittingpart of a separate remote controller 30. The signal from this lightemitting part can also be received by a light receiving part 33 of thetelevision apparatus 5.

Referring to FIG. 5, an internal configuration of the internet unit 1will be explained with reference to an example. The modular jack 7 ofthe internet unit 1 is connected with a modem 8 of the internet unit 1,which in turn forwards received data of a home page to a memory (RAM) 23via a serial controller 9. This data is transferred from the RAM 23 to atransfer list generation unit 17, which will be described below.

A character font memory 18 and a read only memory (ROM) for storing astart-up program 11, a dialing program 12, a navigator program 13, atransfer list generation program 17, etc. are connected to a CPU 10 viaa bus 17. These programs are stored in the same ROM or separate ROMs. Asa preferred exemplary configuration, the start-up program 11 is storedin a mask ROM, while the dialing program 12, the navigator program 13,and the transfer list program 17 are stored in a flash memory which is arewritable and nonvolatile memory. The character font memory 18 iscomposed of a mask ROM.

The start-up program, an initial image, etc. are prestored in thestart-up program 11. A telephone number of an internet service providerand a procedure program are prestored in the dialing program 12. Thecharacter font memory 18 stores therein font patterns of characters andsymbols, and the CPU 10 reads the font patterns of the characters fromthe character font memory 18 based on codes of these characters andsymbols.

The navigator program 13 is a program which interprets home page datawritten in HTML (described below) to construct a display image, jumps toa linked destination, performs data communications with servers, and soon.

The transfer list generation program 17 detects selectable positions ina home page, namely, hot spots (usually represented by underlinedcharacters or colored characters or framed pictures), and temporarilystores the detected results in the RAM 23. The transfer list generationprogram 17 extracts, from data of a home page changing page by page, atransfer pattern of a cursor corresponding to the home page.

To be more specific, the transfer list generation program 17 extracts atransfer pattern as shown in FIG. 1 from the home page data in which hotspots exist as shown in FIG. 7. This cursor transfer pattern defines, inthis embodiment, corresponding relationships between a given hot spotand other hot spots to which a transfer can be made from the given hotspot in response to an operation of a cursor motion key 44 of the remotecontroller 30 as described below.

In this embodiment, a state in which the cursor 19 (FIG. 6) is placed ona selectable hot spot, is referred to as the hot spot being “focussed”on. Focusing may be realized not only by means of the cursor but also bymeans of an enhanced display like reversing, flickering, etc. In anexample of FIG. 1, a transfer pattern of the cursor is defined as shownby arrows with respect to hot spots A, B, C, D, E, F, and G in a certainhome page. For example, the cursor on a selectable candidate hot spot Amoves onto the hot spot B in response to a “RIGHTWARD” indication of thecursor motion key 44 and moves onto the hot spot D in response to a“DOWNWARD” indication. The cursor on the hot spot G moves onto the hotspot F in response to a “LEFTWARD” indication, and onto the hot spot Ein response to an “UPWARD” indication. The cursor on the hot spot Emoves onto the hot spot D with a “LEFTWARD” indication, and moves ontothe hot spot F with a “DOWNWARD” indication and onto the hot spot B withan “UPWARD” direction. Thus, it is possible for a user to directlytransfer the cursor to one of the nearest hot spots from the currentcursor position, namely, the focussed hot spot position, by using thecursor motion key 44, thereby improving an operability for the user.Detailed configuration and operation of such cursor transfer will bedescribed below.

Referring back to FIG. 5, an audio controller 16 and a video controlcircuit 14 are connected with the CPU 10 via the bus 17, and the audiocontroller 16 generates phonemic data. This phonemic data is convertedinto an analog audio signal through a D/A converter circuit 20 andtransmitted to an audio input of the television apparatus 5 through anaudio line 4. Alternatively, sound is outputted by a built-inloudspeaker. The video control circuit (VGA) 14 converts digital data ofcharacter patterns and pictures sent from the CPU 10 into displaysignals (image data) by using a video RAM 21, and sends them to aflicker prevention circuit 15. The flicker prevention circuit 15executes a scan conversion to prevent the video signals from flickering.The digital display signals from the flicker prevention circuit 15 aresent to a D/A converter circuit 22 for images. The D/A converter circuit22 applies NTSC or PAL analog video signals to the television apparatus5 via a video input line 3. The flicker prevention itself has nothingdirectly to do with the present invention but an arbitrary conventionalmethod can be applied for the purpose of the flicker prevention.

Referring next to FIG. 2, an exemplary configuration of the remotecontroller 30 will be described. In this illustrated example, on theupper half of the remote controller 30 are a group of switch buttons 40of an ordinary television apparatus, including a power-on button 59, aVIDEO/TV change-over button 60, numeric channel buttons 58, etc. On thelower half are a group of switch buttons 41 for the Internet. The groupof the switch buttons 41 includes a scroll-up button 42 and ascroll-down button 43 for scrolling an image up and down, a cursormotion key 44 for moving the cursor 19 vertically and horizontally onthe screen, a selection button (SELECT) 45 for selecting a hot spotspecified by the cursor 19 (for example, jumping to a linked location),a stop button (STOP) 46 for stopping an action or operation, a backbutton (BACK) 47 for returning to a previous page, a forward button(FORWARD) 48 for going ahead to a next page, a URL (address) button 49for directly specifying a URL by using a software key board (not shown),and a menu button 50 for opening a menu screen.

The cursor motion key 44 may be configured so that it can instruct thecursor to move not only in the vertical and horizontal directions butalso in the diagonal directions. Although only a single key isillustrated in the Figure, the cursor motion key may be a four-splitconfiguration including up, down, right and left parts.

Now, configuration of home page information will be described. Home pageinformation obtained from a Web server is written in the Hyper TextMarkup Language (HTML). A document written in HTML, itself, is a textfile including codes, called tags, each of which is enclosed by thesymbols “<” and “>” to specify character modification information,layout information, etc. The navigator program 13 as a Web browser actsto interpret these tags to make a display of the HTML document.

The HTML document not only allows other texts, images, or audios to beinserted in the document but also allows individual parts of aparticular HTML document to be linked with images or other HTMLdocuments. Namely, the HTML document makes it possible to link (relate)a particular position (hot spot or anchor point) with another position,file, etc. in the same document, thereby allowing a prompt jump fromthat position to the linked position or location, and very efficientreading (browsing) of various documents (including what is calledmulti-media). Further, upon selection of a hot spot, it is possible toopen a window for transmitting an electronic mail or start a specificfunction related to the hot spot. Thus, by setting hot spots to variousitems in an HTML document in advance and selecting such hot spots, auser can browse the documents corresponding to the hot spots or executevarious functions corresponding to them.

In FIG. 13(a), a basic configuration of an HTML document is shown. TheHTML document is, as mentioned above, substantially a text file but hasembedded codes (sandwiched by symbols “<” and “>” ) dispersedly placedin the document. Usually, a specified range is held between a pair oftags, a starting tag “< . . . >” and an ending tag “</ . . . >”. Theending tag includes “/” therein to be distinguished from the startingtag. However, the tags are sometimes used solely, like <P> whichrepresents a paragraph change or <BR> which represents a line feed. Inaddition to the character modification information and layoutinformation, link information can be set by the tags. The browserinterprets these tags and displays the HTML document on a screen in theform intended by its creator and also controls the linking.

A basic configuration of an HTML includes various tags existing in thetext document as shown in FIG. 13(a). When this HTML document isinterpreted by the browser and displayed on a screen, the tags are notdisplayed as is evident from FIG. 13(b), but instead the displayreflects only the instructed contents. A function is called link (orhyperlink) as mentioned above, which causes a jump to a location relatedto a specific character string in an HTML document when a user selectsthe specific character string, on which a hot spot is set. An HTMLdocument “aaa.html” in FIG. 13(a) at a position 201 reads:

<A HREF=“bbb.html”>BBB</A>

The tags used for setting a link are called anchor tags (<A . . . >. . .</A>), the part held between the anchor tags being called a hot spot oranchor point. The term “HREF=” in the starting tag <A HREF=“bbb.html”>of the anchor tags leads access information (here, a file name) of alocation to be linked with the hot spot. In this anchor tag part, thecharacter string “BBB” is highlighted on the browser screen as a displaycharacter string 203 in FIG. 13(b). This highlighted display can beachieved with a color differentiation from other character strings orwith an addition of an underline. This allows a user to recognize thatupon selecting that particular character string he or she can betransferred to another location.

The position 202 shows a case where a hot spot is set on an in-lineimage, and here an image file named “ggg.gif” is displayed as an image204 on the screen, and when this image 204 is selected by a user, thecontents of the linked destination “ccc.html” are fetched and displayed.The term “in-line image” refers to an image embedded in an HTML documentfor being displayed therein.

Referring to the block diagram shown in FIG. 5, the operation of atelevision apparatus shown in FIG. 3 will be described in the following.Now, assume that the jack 6 of the telephone line 2 is inserted into thejack 7 of the internet unit 1. When a user presses the power-on button59 of the remote controller 30, the light receiving part 32 of theinternet unit 1 receives this signal and the power of the circuit in theinternet unit 1 is turned on. At the same time, the television apparatus5 is also turned on by the same signal. Then, the start-up program 11 isactivated, and the CPU 10 reads an initial menu screen data, forexample, as shown in FIG. 4, to display the data on the display screenof the television apparatus 5.

The cursor 19 is arranged at first to be displayed at the hot spotposition “1. DIAL-UP” on the FIG. 4 screen so that a beginner canreadily start the internet communication. (However, this is only anexample, and the initial position of the cursor may be anywhere.)

When a user presses the selection button 45 of the remote controller 30,the CPU 10 reads the telephone number of the provider along with the IDnumber and password of its own station from the dialing program 12 intothe RAM 23, so as to instruct, through the serial controller 9, themodem 8 to execute dialing the telephone number of the provider. Themodem 8 then dials the telephone number of the provider, and the line isconnected between the internet television apparatus and the provider.

Then, the provider sends an inquiry for the ID number and password ofthe caller, to the internet television apparatus according to apredetermined protocol. The CPU responds to the inquiry according to thedialing program 12, and the provider and the internet unit 1 are broughtinto a state in which data communication is possible, with an icon orthe like being displayed on a part of the television apparatus 5 forindicating the connected state.

When the user presses the menu button 50 of the remote controller 30 inthe connected state of the line, the initial menu screen shown in FIG. 4is displayed again on the television apparatus 5. When the “DOWNWARD” onthe cursor transfer button 44 is pressed once, the cursor 19 is movedfrom “1. DIAL-UP” onto the character of “2. NAVIGATOR” and staysthereon. When the selection button 45 is pressed, the navigator program13 is activated so as to display a first home page picture.

Referring next to FIG. 6, FIG. 7, and FIG. 1, an explanation will begiven of an operation of transferring the cursor 19 using the cursormotion key 44.

The CPU 10 receives an HTML document corresponding to screen data ofFIG. 6 from the Internet and stores the data in the RAM 23. Assume thatthis screen is, for example, a home page for guiding art museums inShinshu. In FIG. 6, the character strings “ART MUSEUM”,“TRANSPORTATION”, and “HOTEL” set as hot spots are underlined indisplay. Information on which route of transportation to take, whichhotel to stay at for visiting which art museum are obtained bysequentially specifying the hot spots on this screen. The transfer listprogram 17 can detect aforementioned anchor tags and recognizecoordinate positions of respective hot spot areas on the display screen.These positions of the art museum, transportation, and hotel correspondto the hot spot positions A, B, C, D, E, F, G, etc. in FIG. 7. Therespective hot spot areas are as shown in FIG. 1.

Now, on the picture of FIG. 6, assume that the cursor 19 is currently onthe “ART MUSEUM” hot spot in the upper-left part of the screen, and forexample, a user wants to look for a hotel. Then, when the user pressesonce “DOWNWARD” on the cursor transfer button 44, the cursor 19 jumpsdown to “TRANSPORTATION” first, and when he or she presses once again“DOWNWARD”, the cursor jumps downward-left to the “HOTEL”. Pressing theselection button 45 with the cursor 19 placed on the “HOTEL” will leadsto, for example, a home page for a hotel guide.

If audio data of music or lady's voice come out in the home page of thehotel guide, the CPU 10 sends the audio data to the audio controller 16in FIG. 5. The audio controller 16 decodes the audio data and appliesthe decoded data to the audio D/A converter circuit 20. The D/Aconverter circuit 20 converts the audio data into analog audio signalsand applies them to a loudspeaker of the television apparatus 5 via theaudio line 4. The picture data of the hotel guide home page are directlysent to the video control circuit 14. Regarding code data for thesymbols and characters, their corresponding pattern data are fetchedfrom the character font memory 18 and sent to the video control circuit14. The video control circuit 14 generates display screen data from thepicture data and pattern data by using the video RAM 21, and applies thedisplay screen data to the flicker prevention circuit 15. The screendata are subjected to a flicker prevention processing by the flickerprevention circuit 15 and applied to the D/A converter circuit 22. TheD/A converter circuit 22 converts the display screen data into analogsignals and applies the analog NTSC or PAL signals to the video circuitof the television apparatus 5 via the video line 3.

On a screen (not shown) displayed when the “3. E-MAIL” is selected inFIG. 4, it is required to input characters and symbols such as a keywordand Web addresses. For this purpose, although any hardware equivalent toa keyboard for a personal computer is required, a virtual keyboard(keyboard image) or the like is displayed on the screen of thetelevision apparatus 5 upon pressing the URL (address) button 49 of theremote controller 30 in FIG. 2. The data received from the Internet aresequentially stored in the RAM 23. However, since an image correspondingto the data sometimes does not fit into one screen, the pressing of thescroll up and down buttons 42, 43 permits the user to scroll back toprevious displays for review.

When ending the internet communication, the disconnection can be made byan operation from an unshown menu.

Referring now to FIG. 14 through FIG. 16, a specific method forachieving the hot spot focusing with the cursor motion key 44 asdescribed above.

FIG. 14 shows a specific example of the cursor transfer list (alsoreferred to as a transfer pattern table) 140 which defines the cursortransfer pattern among the hot spots on a home page. This cursortransfer list 140 specifies, with respect to a plurality of hot spots ina home page, their names (or their IDs) 141, coordinates 142 of thediagonal points (upper-left and lower-right in this example) of eacharea of the hot spots, and pointers 143 which point destination hotspots to which the cursor jumps in response to respective indications ofup, down, right and left directions of the cursor motion key 44. Thiscursor transfer list 140 is generated when an HTML document (text file,in-line image data, etc.) for a home page has been received,interpreted, and developed as an image.

FIG. 15 shows an example of specific procedures for generating thecursor transfer list.

All hot spots in a home page are detected at the time of interpreting anHTML document to be displayed, and the coordinates of the diagonalpoints in each area are determined (S151). These coordinates are thoseon a home page image developed on the VRAM 21, and for example, theupper-left corner of the home page image is defined as the origin.

The coordinates of the detected hot spots and their names (which mayalternatively be IDs like serial numbers) are registered (S152) incolumns “HOT SPOTS” 141 and “COORDINATES” 142 of the cursor transferlist 140, respectively. At this stage, a column “POINTERS” 143 of thecursor transfer list 140 in FIG. 14 is still blank.

Then, a loop variable i is set with “1” (S153). The value of this loopvariable i corresponds to a serial number of the hot spots in the homepage.

Next, for each hot spot, the data for the pointer 143 are sequentiallydetermined and registered in the list 140 in the loop processing of thesubsequent steps S154 to S157.

Firstly, regarding an i-th hot spot, a hot spot vertically andhorizontally nearest to the i-th hot spot on the developed image issearched (S154). Various search methods may be considered. In thepresent embodiment, with respect to the left and right directions, asearch for another hot spot is made in the respective directions from arepresentative point (e.g., the center of the area, the upper-leftcorner, etc.) of the current i-th hot spot. If such a hot spot is foundthat has a y-coordinate range within which the y-coordinate of therepresentative point falls, then the hot spot is determined as thedestination hot spot in that direction. If a plurality of such hot spotsexist, the nearest hot spot to the i-th hot spot is selected as thedestination. With respect to the up and down directions, a hot spothaving the nearest x-coordinate among the hot spots having y-coordinatesnear to the i-th hot spot is selected as the destination. This hot spotis registered in the pointer 143 of the i-th hot spot (S155). Referringagain to FIG. 1 and considering, for example, the hot spot A on thescreen, it is judged from the coordinates of each hot spot that no otherhot spot exists in the upward direction. Therefore, a code “-”indicating non existence is registered in a column “↑” of the pointers143 in the list 140. In the downward direction of the hot spot A, aplurality of hot spots, D and E, are detected as those having closey-coordinates, but the hot spot D nearest to the hot spot A is selectedand the name “D” is registered in a column “↓” of the pointers 143.Similarly, the code “-” is registered in a column “←” of the pointers143, and “B” in a column “→”.

When all the pointer data in every direction have been registeredregarding the i-th hot spot, i is incremented (S156). If this new i-thhot spot is present (S157), then the procedure returns to step S154 andrepeats the above-described processing. In this way, the transfer list140 as shown in FIG. 14 is completed with respect to all the hot spotsin a home page.

If the i-th hot spot is not present at the previous step S157, thiscursor transfer list generation procedure is ended.

FIG. 16 shows an example of the processing for using the cursor transferlist 140 generated in such a manner. This processing is an interruptionprocessing of the CPU which is activated, in the present embodiment,when the cursor motion key 44 is operated.

Upon activation of the interruption processing, a check is first made tofind which direction the cursor key 44 indicates (S161). Next, it ischecked on which hot spot the cursor 19 stays at present, in otherwords, which hot spot is being focussed on (S162).

The cursor transfer list 140 is then made reference to (S163) on thebasis of the direction indicated by the cursor motion key 44 and thecurrently focussed hot spot, confirmed at steps S161 and S162,respectively. If a registered destination hot spot is found, the cursor(or focus) is transferred onto that hot spot (S165). For example, whenthe currently focussed hot spot is “E” and the cursor motion keyindicates “DOWNWARD”, then it can be read from the table 140 that thedestination hot spot is “F”. Therefore, the cursor is transferred ontothe hot spot F (to the coordinate at the lower-right corner in thisexample).

If no destination hot spot exist at step S164 (in the case of “-”), thisprocessing is ended by bypassing step S165.

Next, a second embodiment is shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. In this secondembodiment, the internal circuit of the internet unit 1 is incorporatedin the television apparatus 5 at the manufacturing stage of thetelevision apparatus 5, and the circuit configuration and operation arealmost the same as those in the first embodiment except the appearance.As shown in FIG. 9, the television apparatus 5 is provided with atelevision circuit 25, an internet circuit 26, and a module jack 7. Theinterconnected configuration is almost the same as that in the firstembodiment.

The remote controller 30 is also similar to the one used in the firstembodiment, and in FIG. 8 a light receiving part 33 incorporates aremote receiver for converting an infrared signal into a digital signaland applying the signal to the CPU 10. The internet circuit 26eliminates the need for the D/A converter circuit 22 in FIG.1, and audiodata from the audio controller 16 are directly sent into the audiocircuit of the television circuit 25, where the data are reconstructedinto audio signals.

Further, since the internet circuit 26 requires no NTSC signal andgenerates no flickering, the flicker prevention circuit 15 in FIG. 5 iseliminated. Moreover, a RAMDAC 34 is used instead of the D/A convertercircuit 22 in FIG. 5, and an image dot map on the RAMDAC is regularlyrefreshed and directly forwarded to the video circuit of the televisioncircuit 25.

Instead of the video circuits such as the video control circuit 14, thevideo RAM 21 and the D/A converter circuit 22 shown in FIG. 5, and thevideo control circuit 14, the video RAM 21 and the RAMDAC 34 shown inFIG. 8, other video circuits shown in FIG. 10 to FIG. 12 can be used.

In the video circuit of FIG. 10, the video control circuit (VGA) 14processes picture data transferred from the CPU 10 via the bus 17 on themultiple port video RAM 27 to generate image data, and forwards theimage data to the D/A converter circuit 22 in FIG. 5 and to the RAMDAC34 in FIG. 8, respectively. Here, in FIG. 10 as well as in FIG. 5, theimage data are generated by the video control circuit 14 and themultiple port video RAM 27, respectively, without burdening the CPU 10with loads. The CPU 10 may be an inexpensive one, but the video controlcircuit 14 and the multiple port video RAM 27 need to be of relativelyhigh performance.

In FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, a simple and inexpensive timing generator 28 isused in place of the video control circuit 14 in FIG. 10.

In the video circuit shown in FIG. 11, the CPU 10 processes picture datato generate image data, and this image data is forwarded via the bus tothe multiple port video RAM 27 to be stored therein. The timinggenerator 28 sequentially reads the image data from the multiple portvideo RAM 27 and forwards the data to the D/A converter circuit 22(RAMDAC 34). Unlike the case in FIG. 10, the image data is generated bythe CPU 10, and, therefore, a relatively high performance CPU needs tobe used.

Also in the video circuit in FIG. 12, the CPU processes picture data togenerate image data, and this image data is forwarded via the bus to anFIFO memory 29 for being stored therein. The FIFO memory 29 is afirst-in first-out memory, and the image data from the CPU 10 is simplyand sequentially forwarded thereto by DMA transmission or the like forbeing stored therein, and is sequentially read in the order of olderimage data according to the timing signal from the timing generator 28.The timing generator 28 sequentially reads the image data from the FIFOmemory 29 and applies the data to the D/A converter circuit 22 (RAMDAC34). Also in this case, unlike the case in FIG. 10, a relatively highperformance CPU needs to be used since the image data is generated bythe CPU 10.

Although the above description has been made with reference to anexample of obtaining HTML documents by accessing Web servers via atelephone line, the present invention is not limited to this. A modifiedexample for obtaining HTML documents not via such a telephone line isshown in FIG. 17.

FIG. 17 shows an embodiment wherein a data broadcast receiving board 171via ground wave or satellite is added to the first embodiment as shownin FIGS. 3 and 5. A similar arrangement can be added also to the secondembodiment as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. The present invention is alsoapplicable as described above to a case where an HTML document isreceived through data broadcasting and if the received HTML documentcontains hot spots. Although it is not essential, in this case, toobtain an HTML document through a telephone line, the use of the bothdata acquisition methods makes it possible to transfer to a Web sitethat is linked in an HTML document received via the data broadcasting.

The above descriptions have been made on the preferred embodiments, butthese are only exemplifications and the present invention is not to belimited to them and is applicable to variously modified and similarembodiments. For example, although the descriptions were made only onthe television apparatus in the above embodiments, the present inventionis applicable to any devices as long as they can display HTML documentseven with no broadcast-receiving or Internet-accessing capability. Suchdevices include, for example, a display apparatuses for a control-use ora guide-use. Further, only the application to remote control buttons wasdescribed above, but the present invention is also applicable to a casewhere the operation is made using operation buttons provided on thedisplay.

Industrial Applicability

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide anexternal internet unit or an internet circuit built-in a televisionapparatus, allowing even a user having no knowledge about personalcomputer operations, to perform the internet surfing, browsing news, andexchanging electronic mails, as if the user were remotely operating thetelevision apparatus.

What is claimed is:
 1. An Internet television apparatus having anInternet connecting capability, comprising: a connector for connectingto a Web server of the Internet; a storage unit for storing a markuplanguage document received from the Web server; an interpreter forinterpreting the markup language document and developing an image on animage memory; a display device for displaying the developed imagethereon; a wireless remote controller having an operation key or keysfor indicating at least four directions for remotely controlling theInternet television apparatus; a recognizer for recognizing, for eachmarkup language document, anchor tags existing in the markup languagedocument to detect mutual positional relationship among hot spots,corresponding to the recognized anchor tags, on a browser screen so asto generate a transfer list which defines, for each hot spot, indicationof either no hot spot or a hot spot existing next to said each hot spotin respective directions capable of being indicated by said operationkey or keys; and a control unit for determining to which hot spot afocus is to be transferred next from a currently focused hot spot, byreferring to said transfer list on the basis of the currently focusedhot spot and a user's operation to said operation key or keys forindicating at least four directions, and for transferring said focus tothe determined hot spot.
 2. The Internet television apparatus accordingto claim 1, comprising a receiver for receiving the markup languagedocument through a telephone line.
 3. The Internet television apparatusaccording to claim 1, comprising a receiver for receiving the markuplanguage document from a data broadcasting.
 4. The Internet televisionapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the focusing is achieved bydisplaying a cursor placed on a hot spot to be focused on.
 5. TheInternet television apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the focusingis achieved by an enhancement display of a hot spot to be focused on. 6.An external device to be connected to a television apparatus forproviding the same with an Internet accessing capability, comprising: aconnector for connecting to a Web server of the Internet; a storage unitfor storing a markup language document received from the Web server; aninterpreter for interpreting the markup language document and developingan image on an image memory; a transmitter for transmitting thedeveloped image to said television apparatus; a wireless remotecontroller which has an operation key or keys for indicating at leastfour directions and remotely control said external device; a recognizerfor recognizing, for each markup language document, anchor tags existingin the markup language document to detect the mutual positionalrelationship among hot spots, corresponding to the recognized anchortags, on a browser screen so as to generate a transfer list whichdefines, for each hot spot, indication of either no hot spot or a hotspot existing next to said each hot spot in respective directionscapable of being indicated by said operation key or keys; and a controlunit which refers to said transfer list in response to a user'soperation to the operation key or keys for indicating at least fourdirections and in response to a currently focused hot spot, so as todetermine to which hot spot the focus is to be transferred next from thecurrent hot spot, and to transfer the focus onto the determined hotspot.
 7. The external device according to claim 6, characterized in thatsaid remote controller is used in common as that for said televisionapparatus.
 8. The external device according to claim 6, comprising areceiver for receiving the markup language document through a telephoneline.
 9. The external device according to claim 6, comprising a receiverfor receiving the markup language document from a data broadcasting. 10.The external device according to claim 6, wherein the focusing isachieved by displaying a cursor placed on a hot spot to be focused on.11. The external device according to claim 6, wherein the focusing isachieved by an enhancement display of a hot spot to be focused on.
 12. Amethod of transferring, by key operation, a focus to a plurality of hotspots on a browser screen displaying a markup language document, in adevice with a display for displaying the markup language document,comprising the steps of: receiving the markup language document;recognizing, for each markup language document, anchor tags existing inthe markup language document received; detecting the mutual positionalrelationship among hot spots, corresponding to the recognized anchortags, on a browser screen so as to generate a transfer list whichdefines, for each hot spot, indication of either no hot spot or a hotspot existing next to said each hot spot in respective directionscapable of being indicated by said operation key or keys; determining towhich hot spot the focus is to be transferred next from a current hotspot by referring to the transfer list in accordance with the operationtaken by the user to the operation key or keys for indicating at leastfour directions and with the hot spot currently focused on; andtransferring the focus onto the determined hot spot.
 13. A recordingmedium recording a computer program for achieving a method oftransferring by, key operation, a focus to a plurality of hot spots on abrowser screen displaying a markup language document on a device with adisplay for displaying the markup language document, the methodcomprising the steps of: receiving the markup language document;recognizing, for each markup language document, anchor tags existing inthe markup language document received; detecting the mutual positionalrelationship among hot spots, corresponding to the recognized anchortags, on a browser screen so as to generate a transfer list whichdefines, for each hot spot, indication of either no hot spot or a hotspot existing next to said each hot spot in respective directionscapable of being indicated by said operation key or keys; determining towhich hot spot the focus is to be transferred next from a current hotspot by referring to said transfer list in response to a user'soperation to said operation key or keys for indicating at least fourdirections and the currently focused hot spot; and transferring thefocus onto the determined hot spot.
 14. The recording medium accordingto claim 13, wherein said transfer list is generated to further definefor one or more of said hot spots, coordinates of at least one diagonalpoint of said hot spot.
 15. An Internet unit having an Internetconnecting capability, comprising: a connector for connecting to a webserver of the Internet; a storage unit for storing a markup languagedocument received from the Web server; an interpreter for interpretingthe markup language document and developing an image on an image memory;a display device for displaying the developed image thereon; anoperation key or keys for indicating at least four directions forcontrolling the Internet apparatus; a recognizer for recognizing, foreach markup language document, anchor tags existing in the markuplanguage document to detect mutual positional relationship among hotspots, corresponding to the recognized anchor tags, on a browser screenso as to generate a transfer list which defines, for each hot spot,indication of either no hot spot or a hot spot existing next to saideach hot spot in each direction capable of being indicated by saidoperation key or keys; and a control unit for determining to which hotspot a focus is to be transferred next from a currently focused hotspot, by referring to said transfer list on the basis of the currentlyfocused hot spot and a user's operation to said operation key or keysfor indicating at least four directions, and for transferring said focusto the determined hot spot.
 16. The Internet unit according to claim 15,wherein said transfer list further defines for one or more of said hotspots, coordinates of at least one diagonal point of said hot spot. 17.The Internet television apparatus according to claim 1, wherein saidtransfer list further defines for one or more of said hot spots,coordinates of at least one diagonal point of said hot spot.
 18. Thedevice according to claim 6, wherein said transfer list further definesfor one or more of said hot spots, coordinates of at least one diagonalpoint of said hot spot.
 19. The method according to claim 12, whereinsaid transfer list is generated to further define for one or more ofsaid hot spots, coordinates of at least one diagonal point of said hotspot.